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And were back! Today was part two of Y Combinators absolutely massive Demo Day(s) event for its Summer 2020 class.

As we outlined yesterday, this is the first YC accelerator class to take place entirely online, from the day zero interviews all the way on through to their eventual demo day debut. We talked with YC President Geoff Ralston about what it was like to take the program fully remote (and whether or not itll be staying remote for the long run) in an ExtraCrunch interview here.

Nearly 100 companies presented yesterday, and almost 100 more took the stage today. Each company got 60 seconds to pitch an audience of investors, media, and fellow founders and tell the world in many cases, for the very first time what they were building.

Here are our notes on each of the companies that presented today:

CapWay: A mobile bank for the financially underserved. CapWay brings modern banking services to those in regions where only local (and potentially out-of-date) credit unions exist. The company makes money on the processing fee during debit card transactions. Set to launch in 3 weeks.

Supabase: An open source alternative to Googles Firebase. Supabase helps developers by providing a Postgres database with a self-documenting API based around the data inside. 12 weeks post launch, the team says its already hosting over 1500 databases.

BaseDash: The people who know how to edit a database arent always the same people who need to do it. BaseDash lets non-engineers safely manage data as simply as theyd edit a spreadsheet, replacing custom internal tools.

Afriex: If you remember the early days of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, the idea that they would be huge for remittances was a regular talking point. Somehow that never took off quite as expected. At least not yet, if Afriex has its way. The startup uses USD-pegged stablecoins to help users to send money to other countries, and its model is catching on: Afriex is currently processing $500,000 per month, which is up 5x in the last three months. If Afriex can take on TransferWise and other services that have scale today, it would do well by itself and make cryptos look good at the same time.

Image Credits: Backlot

Backlot: Meet the collaborative design tool for film and video industries thats billing itself as the Figma for filmmakers. The company boasts that filmmakers can render their entire film in 3D, enabling productions to mitigate a lot of the risk and expenses associated with film production. Blockbusters typically hire teams of humans to do by hand what Backlot offers with its software. The company estimates that its an $11 billion market. Backlot charges $130 per user per month.

LSK Technologies: LSK is looking to tap computer vision to build disease testing hardware (a lab in a box, as they put it) small/fast enough to keep in a doctors office or workplace. The company says its currently running Zika Virus field trials in Latin America, and is looking at how they can bring their computer vision approach in to help tackle the COVID-19 pandemic. They also say theyve seen over $100,000 in pre-orders to date.

Image Credits: inFeedo

inFeedo: inFeedos Amber is an AI bot that chats with employees and aims to predict who is unhappy or about to leave. The team says its already working with 46 enterprise companies, and is cash flow positive with an ARR of $1.6M.

Opvia: Nobody is less satisfied with the data tools available to scientists than the scientists themselves, but theyre not often able to do anything about it. These two, however, decided to make Airtable for scientists, replacing the menagerie of tools old and new, from spreadsheets to MatLab, that researchers use to hold and corral data.

Porter: Remote development environments for microservices. Lets developers set up templates of the dev environments they use, and roll out new remote instances with a click. Currently used by companies like PostHog and Motion.

Plum Mail: Its not an email and chat competitor, its an email and chat replacement. The startup sells a platform that focuses on communication features and scheduling tools. On its website, it says it has 36 other era-defining features that blow e-mail and chat out of the water. The startup launched 6 days ago and has 550 people on its waitlist.

Cradle: SMBs in India often resort to cash or checks because the overhead from online payment systems cuts into their profits. Fortunately new regulations make certain types of B2B payments free there, and Cradle is building a platform on top of these. With no interchange fees and all the usual benefits of instant online payment, this could help supercharge SMBs in this growing market.

Clover: Creatives are still largely stuck living in Google Docs and Word, two pieces of technology that are designed around the history of physical paper and printers and general Office Space sadness. Clover wants to shake the text doc world for creatives on an infinite canvas. The companys product isnt launched yet, so there are no growth numbers to share, but the startup does claim 5,400 folks on its waitlist. Our question is how you get creatives to pay for stuff, as most creatives that we know are out of work. Regardless, down with todays terrible text apps! Lets see if Clover can shake its market up.

Datafold: automates quality assurance of analytical data. Anytime a developer makes a change, Datafold analyzes and verifies the output across your databases. Developers spend hours checking data manually, but incidents happen because theres not a good way to handle all of the changes that go into modern software programming.

Depict.ai: Joining the host of products aiming to help SMBs compete with Amazon in the ecommerce sphere, Depict.ai is building a product recommendation engine to help bring Amazon-quality product recommendation for any e-commerce store. Customers include office bigbox chain Staples.

DigitalBrain: Pitched as Superhuman for customer support agents, DigitalBrain says it can help CS reps get through tickets twice as fast. Currently in 10 paid pilots after launching 6 weeks ago.

Image Credits: Daybreak

Daybreak Health: Online counseling for teenagers. The startup uses a mobile app to connect teens to teen-specialized therapists. It also communicates with parents to figure out a plan for online counseling. Founded by Stanford alums, Daybreak Health is bringing in $6,000 in monthly revenue and claims it is more affordable than private practice. Read more in our story here.

Phonic: Surveys are useful for a million reasons, but the text-based online surveys were all familiar with havent changed much in 20 years, leaving them open to manipulation and fraud. Phonic avoids this by using audio and video responses rather than text or buttons, and the company says this triples response quality and helps eliminate fraud and joke responses. The media are automatically ingested and summarized using machine learning, so no, you dont have to watch/listen to them all.

Dapi: Dapi is a fintech API play that is aimed at facilitating payments between consumer bank accounts and companies. That Dapi has managed to make its service work in seven countries with deep bank support is impressive. And Dapi has found demand for its service, with $400,000 in ARR and growth of more than 50% per month as of its presentation. Of course, that growth rate will sharply decline in time, but everyone knows that fintech APIs can have big exits. Expect to hear more from Dapi.

Reploy: By rolling out staging environments with each code deploy, Reploy lets developers share features with their teams and get immediate feedback. Reploy has $1500 in monthly revenue after launching roughly 3 weeks ago.

Index: Index wants companies to use its no-code dashboard builder to help visualize their KPIs and track performance. The tool boasts integration with a variety of data providers so that users arent forced to manually enter data into another tool. The startup hopes that building embeddable dashboards will help their solution catch fire and that startups will turn to their tool when they want to track progress on goals.

Ramani: Helps distributors in Africa manage their inventory, allowing sales people to catalog and track sales. Currently running 5 pilots, theyve seen $80k worth of sales logged to date.

Spenmo: Framing itself as Bill.com for SMBs in Southeast Asia, Spenmo helps companies manage their payments. The founding team hails from Grab, Xendit, and Uangteman. After launching 5 months ago, it has 150 companies as customers and processed $500,000 in transactions in July.

Piepacker: We can play games together, and we can video chat, but its not actually that easy to play games together and video chat. Piepacker combines video with a collection of licensed popular retro-style games that friends can play together easily. Its simpler than putting together a Discord group but more interactive than just streaming. So far the platform has seen long sessions and engagement.

Farel: Another Shopify for X startup, Farel stood out from the pack by having an idea that wed never thought of: Shopify for regional airlines. The Farel team says that regional airlines those with fewer than 30 airplanes make up 30% of the $600 billion air travel market; Farel wants to offer better software for those airlines, charging $1 per traveller per segment. That sounds super cheap? So far the startup is lining up early customers and partners, so its a bit too early to say if Farel will, ahem, take flight.

PhotoRoom: This promising startup already has over $1 million in annual recurring revenue, thanks to its service that removes backgrounds from product photos. Its grown 50 percent since its launch in February and the simple service belies some pretty interesting technical wizardry with machine learning tools to effortlessly retouch marketing images.

Liyfe: Liyfe is building a telemedicine platform for breast cancer patients to communicate with oncologists and cancer professionals from home. The founders hope that more communication between experts and cancer patients can lead to more thoughtful approaches and outcomes.

Openbase: Reviews and insights to help developers choose the right open-source packages. Founder Lior Grossman previously founded Wikiwand and the open-source project Darkness. According to Grossman, Openbase is already seeing 250,000 developers per month.

Image Credits: Quell

Quell: Quell is eyeing what they see as a $18 billion market opportunity in the immersive fitness gaming market. The startup uses resistance bands to help players get fit while fighting their way through a virtual fitness world. It coins itself as a Peloton meets gaming, and charges a monthly fee to keep content fresh.

Hypotenuse: E-commerce sites need a lot of copy: product descriptions, ads, blog posts and more. This is generally done by copywriters, but the quality (especially if hired from by-the-word content farms) can be hit and miss. Hypotenuse generates high quality copy automatically for a variety of purposes and they claim switching to their system boosts engagement by double digits. The founder has a strong AI background so you can at least count on the science.

Reflect: Testing your website or web service is time-consuming and hard to get right. And if Reflect is correct, the existing tooling in the market to help make web testing better is too complicated for most folks to use. Reflect is a bet that a no-code (buzzword!) tool to automate web testing (desktop and mobile, per its website) will be a hit. The company claims $9,600 in MRR, growing at 30% month-over-month.

Byte: Byte is building on-demand food delivery from virtual kitchens in Pakistan. Using virtual kitchens, Byte can slash the cost of food prep, the company says. Byte is already growing 40 percent week over week. The company makes $1 per order, and says it has a total addressable market in Pakistan of $20 billion to make food delivery cheaper.

Parrot Software: Parrot is building Toast for Latin America, creating a suite of back office tools for restaurants. The software handles all of the expected tasks, including customer payments, ordering, seating and data visualization.

Image Credits: BlaBla

BlaBla EdTech: An app that aims to help the user learn English using short, TikTok-style videos. Founder Angelo Huang says the company has 8,000 weekly active users six weeks after launch.

StratumAI: Artificial intelligence software and technology that helps mining companies figure out where to mine. Stratum charges $2 million per year, per mine and it helps those customers unlock an average of $10 million in profit during the same time period.

Intelline: Diesel generators may sound like 20th century tech, but theyre used everywhere, both by industry and individuals. Intelline has designed a diesel generator that they claim has 40 percent better fuel efficiency, which translates to enormous savings at scale; Mining operations, they note, could save millions per year with better diesel generators.

Ilk: Using a thesis of the childcare pod, Ilk is coming to the rescue of worried parents who need to find better/safer childcare solutions during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the companys founder. With a childcare pod, two to five families team up to pool resources and pay for a caregiver to care for their kids. The companys service matches parents with caregivers. The very very early stage company has already set up two successful pods in San Francisco and officially launches next week.

Isibit: A platform for managing/overseeing business travel, focusing on companies in Latin America. Allows travel managers to configure travel policies/limits, and offers employees rewards for making affordable travel choices. The team says theyve seen over $10,000 in bookings a month after launch.

QuestDB: Born years earlier as a side hustle being built on nights and weekends, QuestDB is building an open source time series database focused on speed. If the startup pulls it off, it can help companies detect fraud plus plan and predict customer activity at a faster speed than other competitors. The company is currently being tested at a fintech unicorn, and several companies are using it as part of their production processes. Read more on our coverage here.

WareIQ: Companies in India are trying to wean themselves off Amazons infrastructure, but cant match the companys fast shipping. WareIQ is a software platform that links Indias huge network of fulfilment centers and last mile couriers to enable next-day delivery for budding e-commerce sites that would normally only be able to offer 5-15 day shipping.

Kernal Bio: MRNA therapies to cure COVID and Cancer are a pretty compelling business proposition. Kernal Bio says it has developed therapies which rely on using messenger RNA to instruct cells in the body on how to make their own defenses to diseases. The team has an incredible background with co-founders that include a former researcher from Merck whos developed therapies already. A former founder of Santigen and a phD scientist from MIT. The company has already won three awards from Amgen and NASA.

Kosmos: Kosmos is building a control center for a companys microservices, helping developers monitor and debug a web of services inside a unified interface. The company is integrating all of these tools so developers can see updates and track changes without being forced to search in multiple locations.

Matter: Pitched as Superhuman for reading, Matter says it is building an opinionated reading app to help users find better content online. Currently in private beta on iOS.

Ladder: Building a labor marketplace to help construction companies hire skilled workers for permanent positions. Essentially, Ladder works as an HR team that construction companies can turn to for hiring and retention needs. It has 1,340 workers on the platform and booked $12,200 in revenue in the first month of launch.

Letter: Letter is a bank specifically for rich people, made by a newly rich person who didnt like existing banks. Aimed at high net worth individuals with $1-10M in assets, Letter includes features specifically for the wealthy, replacing the pedestrian tools and designs of ordinary banks and credit unions. The team says they earn up to 2% per transaction.

Maytana: Pitching itself as the financial payment center for multinational startups, Maytana makes it easier for multinational businesses to move money using open banking APIs. The company has three customers and is charging a 0.01% fee for money transfers. Theres $10 trillion being transferred around the world and Maytana thinks it can capture a big chunk of that spending.

Safepay: Safepay wants to build a Stripe for Pakistan, crafting a digital payments API in the country where the founders say there are no other major players in this space.

Jumpstart: Helps international founders setup businesses in the US, aiding with things like incorporation and establishing bank accounts. Charging $129-$329 per year, the team says they have 1,280 companies on the service today.

Mozper: A debit card and app for kids and parents in Latin America. The startup is seeking to tailor to the smartphone-carrying youth, sticking with them until adulthood and becoming their de-facto bank option along the way. Mozpers core product is a debit card, which it charges a fee for, and an app. The startup has already raised $1.5 million from investors and friends. Read more with our previous coverage here.

Parade: Parade lets online brands generate tailored marketing content automatically. You fill out a survey about preferred styles and other info, and it generates assets, including social media posts and a style guide for other content all with no human in the loop. Its a big industry dominated by expensive human designers, and Parade feels theres plenty of room for an automated solution like theirs for businesses that cant afford or dont want to deal with the human element.

Nestybox: creating software to enable containers to replace linux virtual machines. Instead of deploying a few heavy VMs on a server, Nestybox lets you deploy a number of containers for the same functionality. There are 30 million deployments which represents a $6 billion opportunity for Nestybox. Containers have already revolutionized programming, now Nestybox is looking to extend that revolution to compute infrastructure.

Here: Here is building personal, shareable, flexible in-browser video chat rooms. Unlike most other video chat startups, the companys founder says theyve built their own video stack. Seeing their website, it definitely has its own unique look, bringing in some 90s website design paradigms with modern video chat.

Image Credits: Roboflow

Roboflow: Helps developers build computer vision models without having to know much about machine learning. Co-founders previously built AR-heavy Sudoku solver Magic Sudoku, spinning the tools and learnings they put together there into Roboflow. The team says there are currently over 1,000 developers using Roboflow each week.

Vena Vitals: Sells a wearable sticker that allows consumers to monitor their blood pressure continuously. Its a replacement for needles, at a fraction of the cost and clinical accuracy. The company is starting out the clinical route, but wants to become the standard for blood monitoring and managing for consumers and hospitals over time.

SafeBase: B2B SaaS companies, of which there are approximately five million in this batch alone, need to be able to show that they meet security standards in a clear, verified way or they risk losing customers. SafeBase aims to be a one-stop status page that provides instant credibility by showing compliance with security standards.

Image Credits: Rume

Rume: Rume wants to make the social video experience better by allowing groups to have multiple conversations in one space. The company says it enables attendees to fluidly move between groups just like they would at a party. So far, the average Rume session is 50 minutes long and the company has integrated games into the Rume. What sets Rume apart, the company says, is that it owns the entire video stack, thanks to the expertise of the co-founders as former developers at Google and Dropbox.

Oico: Oico is a B2B marketplace for construction materials in Brazil. The company is aiming to build the missing infrastructure to help large contractors acquire materials, pointing them to materials providers and facilitating deals. The company takes a 10% slice of transactions, and theyve reached $87k GMV after four months on the market.

Osmind: Millions of Americans suffer with mental disorders that traditional psychiatric and psychological treatments dont address. While experimental treatments have been developed, theyre not being delivered or tracked effectively, thanks to the barriers that exist in practice management, reimbursement, data collection and distribution to pharmaceutical and insurance companies. Osmind wants to use its practice management and monitoring software to help mental health professionals deliver care to this population thats most in need and provides anonymized insights for pharma/insurance companies to ensure that these treatments are effective. Find our previous coverage of Osmind here.

Todos Comemos: A ready-to-cook meal kit delivery service for Latin America. The company sources food from production facilities that serve restaurants and hotels and is able to turn over meal kits at a cheaper price, with a 30% margin after delivery costs are accounted for.

Orchata: Grocery stores and other food suppliers in Latin America rely on outdated methods like paper/pen for things like ordering and delivery, if they offer it at all. Orchata wants to be the Shopify for online grocery ordering in the region, enabling these small businesses to list items and receive orders online, accept payments, optimize delivery routes, and so on. The company says 1.7M people can be served at their current pricing, which suggests its a bit expensive for most, but really, thats true of Instacart and others as well.

Speedscale: Another programming dev tool to make life easier, Speedscale simulates APIs using actual traffic. Founded by former leaders of engineering and developer solutions at companies like NewRelic, Speedscale solves the problems of code oversight that even companies built with state of the art cloud services have to face. Development updates are often impossible to test due to too many dependencies, but Speedscale says it validates each component with real traffic. The company already has Digibee as a customer and hopes to roll up each of the 11 million developers programming with APIS, which would represent a $6.5 billion market opportunity.

Stacker: Stacker is another startup aiming to upscale the spreadsheet with no-code functionality, allowing the companys users to turn spreadsheets into internal apps and customer portals. The software pushes customers to let data drive designs and turn manual processes into automated ones. The company has more than 250 customers including Google and Amazon.

Epihub: Another Shopify for X! This time its Shopify for anyone teaching online. Epihub is a platform meant to help online instructors schedule/run classes and charge students. 3 weeks after launch they have 50 paid instructors on the platform, with an MRR of $1k.

Notabene: Helps businesses perform crypto transactions in a regulatory compliant way. The startup wants to be the trusted layer on top of blockchain for sharing information. The market is looking to cash in on the new global regulations on crypto that is driving adoption but, at the same time, confusion. In 3 weeks, it landed 10 signed customers.

Bits: Bits helps people build their credit score by providing them with a digital credit card that they pay off every month. Sure, you could do it yourself, but why not have a service that helps you out? In nine months the company has attracted 10,000 paying customers and collected $1.9M in revenue, and some customers have seen their credit scores jump by hundreds, so clearly theres something to it. The founder hopes that this straightforward beginning will be the basis for a new, more full-service billion-dollar fintech company.

Oco Meals: Delivering prepared meals made by local catering companies has already nabbed Oco Meals 25,000 in monthly recurring revenue. Unlike most delivery businesses, Oco Meals delivers pre-ordered food in bulk once a week. The company boasts that its able to give customers better pricing at half the cost and still make $25 per order.

Response: Response is another YC startup thats focused on the response to COVID-19. The startup is building a network for PPE in the United States allowing suppliers to bid on customer requests. The startup hopes that they can further scale this infrastructure beyond PPE in the future and eventually become Alibaba for the United States.

RingMD: Helps governments quickly roll out telemedicine in their countries. Currently working with customers in Chile, the Philippines, and India while charging $3 per user per year, founder Justin Fulcher pins their ARR at $632,000.

CarbonChain: A way for companies to automate the arduous process of tracking their carbon emissions. The company, which is profitable, has landed 5 paying customers with $280,000 in annual recurring revenue. CarbonChains success hinges on more than just the benevolence of business leaders. Its betting on government regulation as a catalyst for companies to care (and transform) their carbon emissions. Read our coverage here.

Panadata: Background checks are an ordinary part of doing business everywhere in the world, but the data is fragmented across multiple government databases and other document hoards. Companies have emerged to sift through the mess in the U.S. and E.U., but Latin America provides a unique challenge and Panadata hopes to tackle it. Its automated check system is already in action and in use by banks, law firms even the local governments in charge of the data it uses.

Image Credits: Venostent

Venostent: Venostent, the company thats developing a novel material for stents and vascular reconstruction and stenting surgeries, has already won prestigious prizes from HHS and the NIH and will be beginning a clinical trial this year. The company has a $5 billion market opportunity ahead of it in just its initial market alone and it has 92% gross margins. Read more about our coverage on this company here.

NeXtera Workforce: NeXtera is building a software platform to help factories integrate robotics into their processes in days instead of months. The AI platform is focused on deployment, monitoring and tech support to help optimize rollouts. Early customers of theirs include Dunkin Donuts and Tesla. The founders are MIT alumni with backgrounds in AI and cybersecurity.

Finch: An API to help developers tap into payroll systems (like ADP, Gusto, Rippling, etc) with three lines of code, enabling them to do things like verify income, set things up for direct deposits, pull paystubs, and confirm employment.

Scrimba: An online, personalized coding school coming out of Oslo, Norway. Scrimba teaches students coding through interactive videos that are pre-recorded. Students are able to actively code throughout the videos, and so far Scrimba has worked with students from over 100 companies.

Tangobuilder: Taking an architects designs from concept to construction-ready blueprints is an expensive, complex job done by structural engineers and other experts. Tangobuilder automates the process, saving time and money for example, they claim one hospital project was 2 months faster and $1.5M cheaper because it used their platform. You can read our coverage of Tangobuilder here.

Frontline: How about a startup that gives developers no matter their security experience NPCI compliance? Thats Frontline. The company already has $22,000 in monthly recurring revenue and is growing 42% monthly. Already 20 Fortune 500 companies are using the companys service. Typically the process to deploy a secure virtual machine takes 100 hours to complete. Frontlines service is an obvious and affordable choice to get that chore off of developers plates. The company estimates that its service represents a $4 billion market.

Synth: Synth is building a platform for creating compliant, realistic fake data for application development, cloning existing databases while synthesizing the specifics. The startup believes its approach will help promote better data privacy and compliance with regulations while still maintaining accuracy.

Sutra: Looking to help the countless fitness instructors put out of work by COVID gym closures, Sutra charges $25 per month with a 3% transaction fee to help instructors host live fitness classes and sell videos/monthly memberships. Their platform can be integrated into your existing website, or they can provide a landing page.

Trident Bioscience: Sells software that helps biotech companies design proteins with recent breakthroughs in mind. The company has predictive models that help customers decide which kinds of proteins should be made. The founder, Tyler Shimko, has a PhD in genetics from Stanford. Trident is currently working with 2 biotech companies.

TyltGo: Brick and mortar stores and small online retailers want to provide same-day delivery, but would prefer not to own a bunch of trucks. TyltGo provides same day delivery service on demand, batching orders from multiple retailers to optimize routes, lower costs, and reduce the need for warehouse space.

Tappity: The company bills itself as the interactive Netflix for kids. It already has 5,000 subscribers and $55,000 in monthly revenue. Its picking up 20,000 free downloads per month and has no marketing spend something thats a valid selling point given the high costs of consumer customer acquisition. Customers pay $8 for the service and with 25 million kids in its target market thats a $2.5 billion market opportunity. Its already the number one science app for kids on the app store and the company plans to add classes for programming, history math and art. The goal, the company says, is to build a veritable Library of Alexandria of interactive lessons that kids are curious about.

Ukama: Ukama is building technologies to allow any enterprise to create their own LTE-based cellular network. The founder says that this approach can reduce network bills, increase security and provide more accessibility to on-campus users. The CEO previously founded another cellular network startup that was acquired by Facebook.

Biocogniv: Builds AI-powered software to help hospitals diagnosis patients, analyzing their EHR (electronic health records) in real time. Currently focusing on predicting COVID outcome, they will soon expand to screening for signs of sepsis and pulmonary embolisms.

Image Credits: Drip

Drip: Rather than a restaurant running on a collection of disconnected pieces, Drip provides what it claims is the only piece of software a restaurant needs to run its entire business. That means POS, employee scheduling, payroll and more. With lots of restaurants modernizing their methods during the pandemic, Drip has grown from doing $10k/month in business in June $600K in August.

Henry: Bringing the income sharing model to Latin America to help potential students pay for their education, Henry is a company that thinks its in the right region at the right time. It already has more than 500 students and its serving an incredible need given the flood of demand coming from tech companies in the region. The college and university system is broken, Henry argues, and its got the education opportunity for new developers. Thats why we created Henry. To unlock potential and bring high quality education with an income share model.

Batch: Batch is building a Time Machine for corporate data. The startups tools allow customers to observe and replay data inside messaging systems to help them quickly diagnose outages and data disasters and revert changes.

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Here are the 94 companies from Y Combinators Summer 2020 Demo Day 2 - TechCrunch

Real estate brokerages in Los Angeles and elsewhere have made shifts in their business over the last five months that could be for the long-term.

In early April a dejected-looking Kurt Wisner posted a video in front of an empty van.

Ive got a van parked down here by the L.A. River and its Tuesday, said Wisner, a Compass agent who runs the Courtney & Kurt team. Tuesday is typically a day where we do our broker caravan.

We tell stories, we tell jokes, and its just a great time to be human, Wisner said to the camera. But today, as you can see, the van is empty.

L.A. residential real estate agents lost a fundamental part of their routine when statewide orders issued in March shut down the weekly home caravan tours as well as Sunday open houses.

The stay-at-home orders Gov. Gavin Newsom issued are now five months old.

Throughout this unprecedented disruption to the norms of residential real estate, brokers have tried to stay positive. Theyve discussed pent-up demand and how the Covid-induced recession has let them learn new skills, and freed up time for phone and Zoom calls with clients.

When sales fell in April and May, such optimsm seemed like public relations damage control. But now sales really are up 22 percent in L.A. County year-over-year for July, with sales records being set nationally, according to National Association of Realtors figures. Brokers made adjustments big and small that were unthinkable in February.

Theres layers weve been able to peel off, said Tami Halton Pardee, CEO of Halton Pardee & Partners.

What has stayed and what has changed may come as a surprise. Heres whats in and whats out for residential brokerages in L.A. and elsewhere:

In: Managing the virtual office

When offices shut down in March, many agents, ironically, turned to their office manager.

My manager has been really good at navigating the different reality that we have had, said Alicia Dry Cohen, an agent at Nourmand & Associates. Cohen says her manager, Carolyn Rae Cole, has kept us up to date on issues like applying for unemployment and contract verbiage.

Office managers including Howard Lorey of Nourmand & Associates swear theyve done more work during the pandemic. My job has been more intensely busy since March, Lorey said. I am helping agents redefine their roles.

Spencer Krull, manager broker of Sides Southern California offices, said hes spent an inordinate amount of time providing legal guidance to his agents.

The big difference now is that managers are supposed to be experts in government orders from the state, counties, and cities, Krull said. Agents are asking questions like, How long do I have to wait to do the showing if the seller was exposed to someone with Covid?

To an outsider, the facilitative role of office manager with no sales track record, or leadership decisions is hard to measure.

When Compass laid off 15 percent of all its employees in March, a notice filed with the California employment department revealed that managers of various titles agent experience, construction, strategic growth, associate marketing got a pink slip.

But office managers interviewed say those positions are not like managers at other brokerages (numerous messages left with Compass went unreturned). Traditionally, there is one manager per office, and they are jack-of-all-trades, doing sales training, contract, deal doctoring, legal, and administrative, said Colin Keenan, the managing broker of Westside Estate Agency.

The majority of brokerages maintain the practice of one do-it-all manager per office. But some bigger brokerages created an alternative of specialists, a strategy Keller Williams is credited with pioneering. The Austin-based brokerage began shifting 15 years ago from all-purpose managers to specialists with specific tasks like legal compliance or accounting.

Keller Williams moved to specialists, and Compass has adopted some of that model as well, Keenan said.

Both brokerages have managers focusing on one area, like an accountant who handles the books at multiple offices.

But big brokerages experiments with the office manager role seems to have hardened boutique shops resolve in sticking with the do-it-all manager.

As a deal doctor, legal liability navigator, and sales trainer, office managers are imperative to working in todays market, said DJ Grubb, broker of Oakland boutique Grubb & Co.

Out: The physical office

Brokerages are slowly reassessing their physical presence.

Coldwell Banker, the top L.A. County residential brokerage by sales volume in 2019, made office cutbacks amid the pandemic, though Duran said the firm has no plans for closures for the foreseeable future at the 61 offices it leases in Southern California.

Meanwhile, Coldwell Bankers national rival, Keller Williams, is openly rethinking office space.

The market center of the future will almost certainly consist of smaller physical footprints, said Matt Green, director of growth for Keller Williams. Covid and other market shifts we have experienced continue to show us that office space isnt core to our value proposition.

When agents need to cut costs, Green added, Office space is one of the first things to go.

Sill, Keller Williams has not announced office closings amid the pandemic.

You are not a very good real estate broker if you are in the office anyway, said Suzanne Hollander, professor at the Jerome Bain Research Institute at Florida International University. Many agents just collect their commission check, and fill out some paperwork there.

Despite that, Hollander noted, brokerages from Fisher Island to Beverly Hills have spent millions of dollars on glamour offices.

Realogy, the parent company of Coldwell Banker, Corcoran and Sothebys, listed $491 million in operating lease assets in its latest SEC quarterly report (down from $515 million at the end of 2019).

Coldwells portfolio of over five-dozen California offices include leasing a whole floor at 166 N. Canon Drive in Beverly Hills, an office building in the heart of the tony 90210 ZIP code.

Within walking distance are offices rented by Compass, The Agency, Hilton & Hyland, and Douglas Elliman among other brokerages.

According to the L.A. County assessors office, the building Elliman rents at 150 El Camino Drive has a market value of $40 million. Elliman glammed up the space, and used it on reality TV to market the brokerage, a practice employed by other shops like Oppenheim & Associates and its West Hollywood office.

But when the cameras shut off, offices play a small role. Over the past five to 10 years, Id say the majority of agents spend their time working from home or Starbucks, so a lot of the day-to-day has been over the phone for a while, said Krull of Side.

Agents interviewed basically said the same. The atmosphere and camaraderie there can be great, said one agent. So great that the agent comes into the office, Only when I have to.

Side is distinctive for making agent teams bear the cost of office space. But other brokerages may also find alternatives to the traditional office lease.

Pardee noted her brokerage owns offices in Venice and Culver City on L.A.s West Side. Thats what brokerages should do, buying our own buildings, she said.

Halton Pardee & Partners does one lease one office building in Palm Springs, but the broker says that office might not be worth the trouble. We are looking to go down from three offices to two, Pardee said.

In: Matterport tours Out: The caravan

A key layer Pardee has peeled off is physical sales departments. The broker furloughed two staff members who work on physical sales, and sold one of the two trucks used to transport brokers and got rid of most physical advertising.

Other expenses associated with caravan tours and open houses were also jettisoned.

These were events where everyone got dressed up and it was a time for agents to interact with each other, Krull said.

Sometimes the price of a home could be discerned by the open house spread. Some would have cookies, some would have champagne and cookies, and some would have champagne and sushi, noted Hollander, the real estate professor.

Virtual tours have replaced open houses as the entry point to a new house on the market for brokers and clients alike.

The Sunnyvale, California, company Matterport, which makes immersive 3-D technology, has become an adjective and verb in the brokerage world just as Zoom has for many other businesses.

One thing we added was Matterport tours, Pardee said. We can actually walk people through the house.

Like other brokers interviewed, Pardee has seen such adjustments teaching agents a whole new technology, and the structure by which a home comes onto market as just another cost of doing business.

Residential brokerages could be given a credit as a flexible and resourceful business or one that used a global catastrophe to learn what was really essential to selling homes.

Its a people business, Hollander said. But communicating virtually you can establish some of those same relationships.

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Survival of the slimmest: TRD looks at the future of the residential brokerage - The Real Deal

Built in 1928, abandoned in 2000, and meticulously disassembled in 2016, the Loblaws Groceterias warehouse at Bathurst Street and Lake Shore Boulevard West in Downtown Toronto is soon to be reborn in both the figurative and literal sense as part of Choice Properties'West Block Est. 1928retail and office complex. Four years after the building's brick-by-brick disassembly and cataloguing, a process overseen by heritage expertsERA Architects,the rebuilt and expanded buildingincluding anarchitectsAlliance-designed office structure atop the reconstructed heritage facadesis now preparing to welcome its first tenants.

Looking northeast to West Block, image by Forum contributor Red Mars

Among the businesses set to populate the retail space is namesake grocery store Loblaws, who are just days away from opening their new flagship at this location. Signage for Shoppers Drug Mart has also appeared in recent weeks, while clothing retailer Joe Fresh is also gearing upto open its doors in the building.

Looking northwest to West Block, image by Forum contributor Red Mars

The completed reconstitution of the exterior walls includes restored brick and limestone finishes(which we covered in greater detail in anearlier article covering the project).Another more recent detail that has added to the overall aesthetic is the addition of medallion motif window blinds on the second and third floors of the reconstituted warehouse, prominent along the main Lake Shore Boulevard elevation.

Looking north to West Block, image by Forum contributor Red Mars

Loblaws will occupy 4,000 ft of the ground floor, while Shoppers will occupy 12,000 ft, and Joe Fresh6,400 ft. Loblaws is taking the entire 45,000 ft footprint of the second floor, along with a 1,650 ft mezzanine above. In total, there is 101,378 ftof retail and 160,989 ft of office space at the site. Along the ground floor's Lake Shore Boulevard frontage,smaller spaces are set to include a 1,400 ft cafe and an 1,800 ft office lobby.

Meanwhile,thetwoIBI Group-designed condo towers developed byConcord Adexto the north are also wrapping up construction. Known asThe LakeFront and The LakeShore, the 37 and 41-storey towers are now welcoming their first residents, evidenced by a sign along Bathurst directing residents to a pickup location for their suite keys.While the towers are practically complete, work continues on various elements at the base of the towers, including a two-storey restaurant space set to front Bathurst Street in the base of the west condo tower.

Looking east across Bathurst Street to condo towers, image by Forum contributor Red Mars

Other finishesare beling applied to other retail spacesalong Bathurst andbelow the Gardiner Expressway in a couple of standalone buildings, with a group of four commercial retail units sized at 913 ft, 1,653 ft, 7,599 ft, and 8,858 ft.

Panorama looking northeast from condo drive aisle, image by Forum contributor Red Mars

The Loblaws and Shoppers Drug Martare currently aiming for an August 28 opening.

Additional information about this development can be found in our Database file for the project, linked below. Want to join the conversation? Check out the associated Forum thread, or leave a comment in the space provided on this page.

* * *

UrbanToronto has a new way you can track projects through the planning process on a daily basis. Sign up for a free trial of our New Development Insiderhere.

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Loblaws About to Return to West Block Retail, Office, and Residential Complex - Urban Toronto

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The husband and wife couple behind HGTV series Stay or Sellhave sold their Edina home, but won't be moving too far away.

Heather and Brad Fox announced to their Facebook followers this past week that their $1.25 million home on Dawson Lane was on the market.

It didn't stay on the market for long either, with Heather Fox confirming to BMTN that it has since been sold to a "very sweet fam!"

The couple have made a name for themselves and risen to national prominence for their stylish home remodels in the Twin Cities, having transformed what was a rambler on Dawson Lane into the 4,035-square-feet two story family home after buying it in 2016.

The five-bedroom house was finished with custom walnut cabinets, Cambria quartz countertops and a walk-in pantry in the kitchen, an open staircase with oak slab stairs, an office, and a children's playroom.

Now they've got their sights on another labor of love, having bought "another project house" just a few blocks away on Lake Cornelia.

Heather says selling their home is "bittersweet," with work on their new one expected to take up to a year.

It's been a busy year for the Foxes despite the pandemic, having also opened their studio and lifestyle shop, Foxwell, at 44th and France in Edina.

The pair are also hoping to return to HGTV screens soon, though the virus has delayed a potential second series of Stay or Sell.

Buying or selling? Find a realtor using BMTN's directory

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Gallery: HGTV stars Heather and Brad Fox sell their $1.25M Edina home - Bring Me The News

Countertop Microwaves Market Trends, In-Depth Research on Market Size, Emerging Growth Factors, Global 2020 Trends and Forecasts 2025

The Countertop MicrowavesMarket report is one of the most comprehensive and important dataabout business strategies, qualitative and quantitative analysis of Global Market.It offers detailed research and analysis of key aspects of the Countertop Microwavesmarket. The market analysts authoring this report have provided in-depth information on leading growth drivers, restraints, challenges, trends, and opportunities to offer a complete analysis of the Countertop Microwavesmarket.

The researchers have considered almost all important parameters for company profiling, including market share, recent development, gross margin, future development plans, product portfolio, production, and revenue. The report includes detailed analysis of the vendor landscape and thorough company profiling of leading players of the Countertop Microwaves market.

Get PDF sample copy of this report(Including impact of Covid-19)@: https://www.marketinforeports.com/Market-Reports/Request-Sample/155789

Top Leading players covered in the Countertop Microwaves market report: GE, Sharp, Whirlpool, Magic Chef, Panasonic, Oster, Danby, Westinghouse, RCA, Frigidaire, Avanti, LG Electronics, Farberware, KitchenAid, Samsung, Nostalgia Electrics, Impecca, Sunbeam, Summit, Cuisinart and More

Key Types:Single DeckDouble Deck

Key End-Use:HouseholdCommercial

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The latest report added by Market Info Reportsdemonstrates that the global Countertop Microwaves market will showcase a steady CAGR in the coming years. The research report includes a thorough analysis of market drivers, restraints, threats, and opportunities. It addresses the lucrative investment options for the players in the coming years. Analysts have offered market estimates at a global and regional level.

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Overview: Along with a broad overview of the global Countertop Microwaves market, this section gives an overview of the report to give an idea about the nature and contents of the research study.

Analysis on Strategies of Leading Players: Market players can use this analysis to gain competitive advantage over their competitors in the Countertop Microwaves market.

Study on Key Market Trends: This section of the report offers deeper analysis of latest and future trends of the Countertop Microwaves market.

Market Forecasts: Buyers of the report will have access to accurate and validated estimates of the total market size in terms of value and volume. The report also provides consumption, production, sales, and other forecasts for the Countertop Microwaves market.

Regional Growth Analysis: All major regions and countries have been covered in the report. The regional analysis will help market players to tap into unexplored regional markets, prepare specific strategies for target regions, and compare the growth of all regional markets.

Segmental Analysis: The report provides accurate and reliable forecasts of the market share of important segments of the Countertop Microwaves market. Market participants can use this analysis to make strategic investments in key growth pockets of the Countertop Microwaves market.

For More Information:https://www.marketinforeports.com/Market-Reports/155789/Countertop-Microwaves-market

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Huge Growth of Countertop Microwaves Market and its Latest Trends, Demand, Opportunities and Forecast to 2025|GE, Sharp, Whirlpool, Magic Chef,...

Nashville Tennessean Published 5:00 a.m. CT Aug. 24, 2020

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5641 Cloverland Park Drive, Brentwood 37027

Year built: 2002

Square feet: 3,735

Price: $599,000

Description: Four-bedroom, four-bathroom brick home is on one level with full walk-out basement. Home has lower level office, open floor plan, storage areas in unfinished portion of basement.Home has screened deck and patio.

5641 Cloverland Park Drive, Brentwood 37027(Photo: Homes.com)

More photos:https://www.homes.com/property/5641-cloverland-park-dr-brentwood-tn-37027/id-600027828587/

GET THE LATEST UPDATES:Download the free Tennessean app on your mobile device.

5468 Old Hwy. 96, Franklin 37064

Year built: 2006

Square feet: 2,000

Price: $599,000

Description: Three-bedroom, two-bathroom home is on 1.3 acres and less than 1.5 miles to downtown Leipers Fork. Home has new kitchen, both bathrooms, new hardwood floors on main floor, new carpet upstairs, new deck. Master bedroom is downstairs, and two bedrooms are upstairs. Home has French drain and encapsulated crawlspace.

5468 Old Hwy. 96, Franklin 37064(Photo: Homes.com)

More photos:https://www.homes.com/property/5468-old-96-franklin-tn-37064/id-1000081680759/

1006 Harwick Drive, Franklin 37067

Year built: 2004

Square feet: 4,169

Price: $599,000

Description: Four-bedroom, four-bathroom brick home in Providence subdivision has open floor plan, new roof and gutters, quartz countertops, stainless steel appliances and new light fixtures. Home has screened patio and fence in back.

1006 Harwick Drive, Franklin 37067(Photo: Homes.com)

More photos:https://www.homes.com/property/1006-harwick-dr-franklin-tn-37067/id-600029298811/

Read or Share this story: https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/local/williamson/brentwood/2020/08/24/homes-what-599-000-can-buy-williamson-county/5618068002/

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Homes: What $599,000 can buy in Williamson County - Tennessean

There are many options for remodeling your home, from a light remodel such as painting and new flooring, to a major remodel that adds living space. Since the home is the largest investment most people will ever make, it is smart to know where to spend your money. And, since the kitchen is the heart of the home, its no surprise that the kitchen is just the place to begin.

The REALTOR ranking of interior projects most likely to add value lists these top three items:

So, a kitchen remodel, from total to partial, accounts for two of the top three ways to add value to your home!

According to Remodeling Magazines 2019 Cost vs. Value report, homeowners recoup approximately 60% to 80% of their costs on a kitchen remodel upon resale. In a hot real estate market like we currently have in Middle Tennessee, you may see an even higher return as long as the remodel is tasteful and on-trend.

If you are considering a partial remodel, dont make the mistake of adding new appliances or countertops to low quality cabinets. Its like putting lipstick on a pig, and you know what they say about that! Just as your home has a foundation for the structure to be built on, the cabinetry is the foundation of your kitchen. Dont scrimp and throw good money after bad by updating everything but old, low quality cabinetry. This will not add value to your home. A potential buyer can even be turned off by the thought of having to rip out new counters placed on old cabinetry.

If your existing cabinetry is high quality and you like the layout, you might suffice with a refresh of new hardware and countertops. Along with painting the walls, these items could yield good results, adding potential value.

We find many older kitchens are low on function and aesthetics. So, a complete remodel would not only yield the highest return on resale, but can also become an investment in the enjoyment of your home. This is really the main motivation to remodel a kitchen in the first place!

Contact Frenchs Cabinet Gallery, LLC to begin the process. Call now to schedule an appointment with one of our experienced designers: 615-371-8385.

Have a question for Frenchs Cabinet Gallery,LLC? Fill out the form below:

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Adding Value To Your Home Through A Kitchen Remodel - rutherfordsource.com

Bidens White House and his Cabinet would likely lean on his connections from the Obama administration, including institutionalists who are palatable to centrist Democrats. But in the same way Biden shifted left on policy in recent months in response to the pandemic, he is also taking advice from the progressive wing of the party.

Interviews with more than a dozen Democrats familiar with his transition process describe an effort by his campaign to assemble a center-left amalgamation of personnel designed to prioritize speed over ideology in responding to the coronavirus and the resulting economic ruin. Think Susan Rice, but also Elizabeth Warren. Pete Buttigieg, but also Karen Bass.

I think those [ideological] distinctions are going to be a little hard to draw in this administration, said Matt Bennett, whose center-left group Third Way, like others, is developing lists of candidates to propose to Bidens advisers for sub-Cabinet and other roles.

One Democratic strategist familiar with Bidens work to form a government said, Does it mean that the chief of staff wont be [longtime Biden advisers] Ron Klain or Steve Ricchetti or something? No, but it does mean youre going to see some unusual suspects in the government, I think.

Among those advising Biden on the transition are centrist-minded establishment figures such as Tony Blinken, the former deputy national security adviser in the Obama-Biden White House, and Lawrence Summers, the ex-Treasury secretary and bane of progressives who said last week that he will not go into the administration. Ricchetti, Bidens former chief of staff, is a former lobbyist.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren is widely viewed as a potential Treasury secretary in a Biden administration. | Samuel Corum/Getty Images

But Biden is also taking economic advice from Warren, Democrats familiar with the campaign say. She is widely viewed as a potential Treasury secretary in a Biden administration. It did not go unnoticed when Biden in April called corporate America greedy as hell. He has also proposed raising the corporate tax rate.

And progressives have been heartened by the composition of his transition team. Headed by former Sen. Ted Kaufman, a longtime Biden adviser and Bidens successor in the Senate, it includes Julie Siegel, who has been a top Warren adviser, and Gautam Raghavan, chief of staff to Rep. Pramila Jayapal, co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

"I think this is about getting seasoned people that are really qualified to do the job. People with experience, people that are smart as hell and people that reflect America," Kaufman said in an interview. A lot of this isnt about ideology or anything else. Its totally about what do you do with the incredible hollowing out that Trump has done ... so many of the agencies just are empty, the career people have left.

"Youre going to be walking into a very difficult situation, and a lot of its going to be blocking and tackling.

One name often mentioned as a potential secretary of State is Rice, who was Obamas national security adviser and made Biden's short list for vice president. Blinken is often mentioned as a potential national security adviser.

Tony Blinken is often mentioned as a potential pick for national security adviser. | Getty Images

Warrens potential selection for Treasury could depend in part on the balance of the Senate after the November election. If she steps down, her states Republican governor, Charlie Baker, would appoint her replacement a Republican, presumably until a special election. But there are workarounds.

A veteran Democratic strategist close to Bidens transition team said that if Warren wants a post, she is definitely in the Cabinet. And even if she isnt, she's likely to influence Bidens thinking.

Elsewhere in the Cabinet, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, who endorsed Biden in early January and served on his vice presidential selection committee, is a likely candidate for transportation or Housing and Urban Development, among other possible positions. Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.), another finalist for vice president, could be secretary of HUD or Health and Human Services.

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham comes up a lot in Cabinet talks, according to one former Biden adviser who remains in contact with Biden campaign officials. Buttigieg, the former South Bend, Ind., mayor and presidential contender, is seen as a likely choice for ambassador to the United Nations or secretary of Veterans Affairs. And Jared Bernstein, a longtime economic adviser to Biden, is frequently mentioned as a potential chair of Bidens Council of Economic Advisors. Bernstein was among the administration veterans and academics who gave Biden and Harris an economic briefing last week.

Former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg is seen as a likely choice for ambassador to the United Nations or secretary of Veterans Affairs. | Ethan Miller/Getty Images

Discussing the kind of leaders he wants to surround himself with at an event in April, Biden said his job is to bring the Mayor Petes of the world into this administration and even if they don't come in, their ideas come into this administration.

He has left open the possibility of including a Republican in the Cabinet and is considering adding a climate-focused position.

I think he will govern like [Bill] Clinton in terms of consensus-building, but he will be surrounded by a lot of Obama people, said former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who served in the Clinton administration as energy secretary and ambassador to the U.N. I believe he will have a free reign for six months, and then if there isnt major, positive change, you know, the fractures in the party will start showing.

The health and economic wreckage from the pandemic has changed Bidens outlook on the presidency and his preparations for a potential administration. Seeing the immediate, post-Trump era in more transformational terms than he did before, he has adopted a more expansive legislative agenda, including more robust college affordability, bankruptcy and Social Security plans. He has significantly expanded his proposal to address climate change, proposing to spend $2 trillion over four years on a suite of programs.

Bidens advisers are preparing for the opening months of his administration almost as a rescue mission, with contingencies to address the coronavirus based on how severe it remains and on whether a vaccine is available.

Rep. Karen Bass could be secretary of HUD or Health and Human Services. | Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Between Covid-19, what Trumps done and the economy, this is going to be a totally different transition because of that. Its just going to be very, very difficult," Kaufman said.

However, he added, When [Biden] shows up on the first day, hes not going to need to be told where the Situation Room is. Hes been in the Situation Room for hundreds of hours. So hes going to come in as the most experienced and qualified person in terms of federal experience of anybody in the history of the country.

The prospects of Bidens legislative agenda would rest heavily on whether Democrats win the Senate. Just as Biden is preparing to populate the executive branch, he is laying groundwork to move legislation. Biden speaks with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), and their staffs are in regular contact.

Last month, Biden signaled an openness to ending the 60-vote filibuster rule, a practice President Barack Obama recently called a Jim Crow relic.

The filibuster is gone, said Harry Reid, the influential former Senate majority leader and a friend of Biden. Its not a question of if, its a question of when its going to go Next year at this time, it will be gone.

The filibuster is gone."

Former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid

When asked what changed Bidens thinking about the filibuster, Reid said, I dont know. I talked to him and Ricchetti about it. Maybe that helped a little bit. I think, just basically, pragmatism if hes going to get anything done as president, [the filibuster] has got to go.

Biden campaign advisers say he considers his Build Back Better agenda a package that can get broad buy-in, not a legislative starting point. Jake Sullivan, a former top State Department official and a senior adviser to Biden, said that as he formulates his legislative agenda, Biden is being attentive to how you construct a bold, integrated agenda that can also attract a big tent coalition of support.

And Stef Feldman, the Biden campaigns policy director, said that in addition to Biden's legislative experience, he "also knows how to move the levers of government in the executive branch.

Brown, who would likely become chairman of the Senate banking committee if Democrats win the Senate, said it is not Biden "moving to the left," but "Biden, and all of us around him, recognizing this is going to be a very consequential presidency."

The fear among some progressives is that Bidens relationships and penchant for compromise may serve to water down the Democratic agenda. Larry Cohen, the former Communications Workers of America president who now chairs the Bernie Sanders-aligned group Our Revolution, said the inclusion of progressives on Bidens transition team is the reason Im hopeful about a Biden administration.

Invoking Bidens frequent references to FDR, Robert Reich, the Clinton-era Labor secretary, recalled that Roosevelt initially was certainly not thought of as somebody on the left. At first, he placed trust in the nations financial institutions, pursuing a working relationship with both populists and business interests early in his administration.

It was only after businesses balked and the relationship deteriorated that Roosevelt changed course.

Then and now, Reich sad, America was ready and willing and eager to try almost anything.

The country will get behind Joe Biden, I think, in very powerful and important ways, Reich said, adding that Biden has the opportunity to be a transformative president Its almost entirely a function of the times.

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Biden is already forming a government. Here's what his Cabinet could look like. - POLITICO

NOTICE OF INVITATION FOR BIDS (IFB) IFB #20-006 NVMHI Fire Alarm Replacement DBHDS PC No.: 720-10880-28-08 DEB Permit Code: 720-A9720-003 Sealed bids are invited for the construction of NVMHI Fire Alarm Replacement at 3302 Gallows Road in Falls Church, VA. The project is generally described as a 100% complete fire alarm system replacement throughout the building including but not limited to associated uninterruptible power supply and surge protection systems, equipment racks, enclosures, wiring, cables, devices, and programming. All conduits and components of the fire alarm system to be recessed unless otherwise noted. All locations where existing devices are removed and not replaced shall be patched and painted to match existing. The facility is a 24/7/365 mental health facility. All access shall be approved by the Owner beforehand. Contractor to follow the facility's procedures for health, fire evacuation, COVID-19 testing, storage areas, and Contractor parking. All work areas shall be approved by the Owner each day. The Contractor is responsible for protecting equipment and materials at all times. Any work area shall be cleaned prior to leaving the area at any time. The Contractor shall take direction from the security officers and staff during events. Sealed bids will be received at the Office of Architectural and Engineering Services, Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services (DBHDS), Commonwealth of Virginia, 1220 Bank Street, 7th Floor, Jefferson Building, Richmond, VA 23219. The deadline for submitting bids is 2:00 P.M. sharp, as determined by the Bid Officer, on September 8th, 2020. The bids will be opened publicly and read aloud beginning at 2:00 P.M., on September 9th, 2020, at the same location. A Bid Bond is required. eVA Vendor Registration: The bidder or offeror shall be a registered vendor in eVA. Procedures for submitting a bid, claiming an error, withdrawal of bids and other pertinent information are contained in the Instructions to Bidders, which is part of the Invitation for Bids. Withdrawal due to error in bid shall be permitted in accord with Section 9 of the Instructions to Bidders and 2.2-4330, Code of Virginia. The Owner reserves the right to reject any or all bids. A pre-bid conference will be held at the NVMHI at 2:00 P.M., on August 27th, 2020. Attendance is mandatory for those submitting a bid. Bidders are asked to meet outside at the main visitor's entrance. To maintain social distancing, the meeting will either be held outside or in the NVMHI gym. All participants are asked to show up wearing adequate Personal Protection Equipment (masks). The contract shall be awarded on a lump sum basis as follows: The Total Base Bid Amount including any properly submitted and received bid modifications plus such successive Additive Bid Items as the Owner in its discretion decides to award in the manner set forth in Paragraph 12 of the Instructions to Bidders. 'Notice of Award' or 'Notice of Intent to Award' will be posted on eVA, Virginia Department of General Services' central electronic procurement website, at https://eva.virginia.gov. Contractor registration is required in accordance with Section 54.1-1103 of the Code of Virginia. See the Invitation for Bids for additional qualification requirements. Under Executive Order 20, July 22, 2014, Cabinet Secretaries and all executive branch agencies are directed to continue and advance the following on a race and gender neutral basis: Exceed a target goal of 42% of discretionary spending with small businesses certified by DSBSD Drawings, Specifications and Invitation for Bid documents are available in electronic format and will be obtained by contacting Cole & Denny Architects. Louis Barbieri (lbarbieri@coleanddenny.com) or Brett Weiglein (bweiglein@coleanddenny.com) will be the contacts for the electronic files and will coordinate the distribution to all requesting contractors.

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VIRGINA DEPARTMENT OF BEHAVIORAL HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENTAL SERVICES NOTICE OF INVITATION FOR BIDS: TEXTURIZING KITCHEN MODIFICATIONS, PIEDMONT...

N.W.T. MLAs sat Monday in an emergency session of the legislature after a cabinet minister was stripped of her portfolios in a surprise shuffle last week.

Katrina Nokleby, formerly minister of infrastructure and of industry, tourism, and investment, will face a vote Wednesday on whether she should remain in cabinet.

Premier Caroline Cochrane sought the unanimous consent of the assembly to fast-track discussion of a motion to remove Nokleby from cabinet, but was stymied by Nokleby's single vote against.

MLAs will sit again on Tuesday, beginning at 1:30 p.m. But because two-days notice must be given for motions, a vote on Nokleby's future will not be held until Wednesday afternoon.

In the consensus system of government, all 19 MLAs select the members of cabinet, who are then assigned their portfolios by the premier.

Nokleby currently sits with cabinet as a minister without a portfolio, after Cochrane issued a surprise statement Wednesday saying she no longer had "confidence in the minister and her ability to fulfil her responsibilities."

Cochrane last publicly expressed "complete confidence" in Nokleby on May 29.

Few regular MLAs have offered any public statements about the shuffle, and none have granted interviews with media.

The premier has also repeatedly denied CBC's requests for interviews.

Instead, on Friday, Cochrane posted a five-minute video to a Facebook page with600 followers in which she said she was "reluctant" to offer her reasoningout of "respect for conversations held in confidence."

Nokleby's departments have been the subject of intense criticism from Indigenous governments who say the territory's procurement process is broken, and from tourism operators who accuse her department of unreasonable delays.

She has also been accused of taking a combative tone in discussions with fellow MLAs, according to NNSL.

But in the wake of Wednesday's statement, industry leaders have lined up to voice their surprise at the premier's move, telling Cabin Radio they had few issues with Nokleby's performance.

Late Saturday, Frame Lake MLA Kevin O'Reillyjoined the list of MLAs breaking silence over Facebook about the decision.

In a lengthy post, O'Reillycalled the revocation of a minister's appointment an "awkward and uncomfortable process," and said MLAs "collectively have not done a very good job in explaining how the Legislative Assembly actually works."

His post struck a different tone from Yellowknife North MLA Rylund Johnson and Kam Lake MLA Caitlin Cleveland, who criticized the premier for providing little notice of her decision.

The decision "was conveyed in a timely manner ... and there was a meeting to discuss this move," O'Reilly's post reads. "The Premier explained the decision ... and there was an opportunity to ask questions."

"I thank the premier for taking my concerns seriously and taking decisive action," it concludes.

O'Reilly could not be reached for comment.

O'Reilly is one of four Yellowknife MLAs well-positioned to replace Nokleby in cabinet.

Historical convention holds that two cabinet members are drawn from northern ridings, two from southern ridings, and two from Yellowknife.

If convention held, O'Reilly, Cleveland, and Johnson would all be eligible, as well asYellowknife Centre's Julie Green.

Of those four, only Johnson has ruled out a bid for a cabinet seat.

Selecting Nokleby's replacement, should she be voted out, will require more sittings, during which candidates for her seat in cabinet will present their case to MLAs and a winner will be decided in a secret ballot.

According to a release from the assembly, the emergency session is expected to conclude bySept. 1.

Continued here:
Move to fast-track N.W.T. minister's exit stymied by her single 'nay' vote - CBC.ca